Big Batch Dinner Rolls

Kezia's Black History Month cooking demonstration at New Hope AME was Sunday and it was exactly right. She stood at the demonstration table with the cast iron and the buttermilk and the cornmeal, and she told the story the way I have told it but with her own voice and her own additions — the history she has been reading for two years, the West African foodways, the cast iron as a site of continuity, Bernice's pan and what it holds. She was clear and unhurried and occasionally funny in the understated way of someone who knows their material well enough to leave room for humor.

About thirty-five people attended. When she took the cornbread from the oven and cut it and passed it around, she said: this recipe belongs to a woman named Bernice Simms who taught her daughter, who taught me. It is four people old that I know of and probably many people older than that. What you're eating has been in this community longer than most of us have been here. Please eat it knowing that. The room was quiet. Then they ate it. Then three people asked her where they could learn to cook like this and she said, I'm leaving for culinary school in September, but Miss Loretta is still here. She looked at me when she said it. I looked back. I felt seen in a way that is different from being complimented.

After the demonstration an older woman I did not know came up to Kezia and said, your grandmother would be proud of you. Kezia said, I don't cook from my grandmother's side. The woman said, that woman sitting in the front row is your grandmother. Kezia looked at me and then back at the woman and said: yes ma'am, she is. I did not say anything. Some things you receive without correction.

After Sunday I wanted to make something that was about feeding people in quantity — something you bring to a room full of thirty-five and make sure everyone gets some. Kezia carried Bernice’s cornbread. I’ll carry these rolls, which are my own offering in the same spirit: a recipe that scales, that passes easily from hand to hand, that does its work quietly while the room is still talking. If you are cooking for a gathering, this is the one I reach for.

Prep Time: 30 min (plus 2 hrs rising) | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 2 hrs 50 min | Servings: 24 rolls

Ingredients

6 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
2 packets (4 1/2 tsp) active dry yeast
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup warm water (about 110°F)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened, plus 2 tbsp melted for brushing
2 large eggs, room temperature

Instructions

Activate the yeast. Combine warm water and sugar in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle yeast over the top and let sit 5–10 minutes until foamy.
Warm the milk. Heat milk in a small saucepan or microwave until just warm to the touch (about 100°F). Do not boil. Add to the yeast mixture along with the softened butter and eggs. Stir to combine.
Build the dough. Add flour and salt to the wet ingredients one cup at a time, mixing with a dough hook on medium speed or by hand with a wooden spoon, until a shaggy dough forms. Turn onto a lightly floured surface.
Knead. Knead by hand 8–10 minutes (or 6 minutes in a stand mixer on medium) until the dough is smooth, elastic, and just slightly tacky. It should spring back when poked.
First rise. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm spot 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until doubled in size.
Shape the rolls. Punch down the dough and turn it onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 24 equal pieces (a kitchen scale helps). Roll each piece into a smooth ball and arrange in two greased 9x13-inch baking pans, spacing them evenly.
Second rise. Cover pans loosely and let rolls rise another 30–45 minutes until puffed and touching each other. Preheat oven to 375°F during this time.
Bake. Bake 18–22 minutes until the tops are deep golden brown and the rolls sound hollow when tapped. Rotate pans halfway through for even browning.
Finish and serve. Brush hot rolls generously with melted butter. Let cool 5 minutes in the pan before pulling apart and serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Big Batch Dinner Rolls — The Recipe I Reach For When I Want to Feed a Room